Sunday, March 31, 2013

It’s Easter Sunday, so there is time for only three quick hits. But they are Free, Legal and Recommended downloads.

The first is some shoegaze from Greensboro, North Carolina. The band is Jenny Besetzt, but the name is deceiving. It is not a band that features someone named Jenny Besetzt. In fact, there is no one named Jenny or Besetzt in the band. “Besetzt is German for “possessed.” Guitarists John Wollaber and Brad Morton don’t sound possessed, but in concert their progressions could cause some head spinning. The other members are drummer Reed Benjamin, bassist Jeff Bechtel and keyboardist Justin Flythe.

"She Was an Evergreen Tree" by Jenny Besetzt

Staying with featuring the guitar, but after crossing an ocean, the second bad is The Cads. Based in the U.K. (Ipswich), the band released theit debut album in 2012. The album is "Lessons: Illustrated," which includes nine songs. "Artaud" is our favorite, but it's not the only one that deserves attention.

Artaud" by The Cads

"Skin" by The Cads

Finally, we have Backwood Sun from Jakarta, Indonesia. This was one of the offerings of the February 15th MAP release. The band members are Lim Rendy (vocals and guitar), Chandra Wijaya (bass and vocals), Bowo Pranoto (guitar Sampling), Martiud (Keys) and Ready Febrian (Drums). The song is "Seven Shadows, which is described by the band as being about a dream regarding the final days of the earth.

Saturday, March 30, 2013

Dandan is a band from Stockholm, Sweden. The members are Daniel Nilsson, Patrik Engström, Max Anderhell, Hannes Ek, and Gustaf Montelius. On their website, the band describes its history as:

“Dandan started out in the spring of 2012, on initiative of singer, songwriter and guitarist Daniel Nilsson, who began to record an EP together with drummer Max Anderhell and bass player Patrik Engström. At the time when the EP was finished, Daniel wasn’t satisfied with the songs and abandoned them cold-heartedly to collect dust throughout the summer.

After a couple of months, however, the band decided to give the songs a second chance by treating them with kid gloves and caring for them. They were carefully tucked in with cozy synthesizers to heal the wounds from broken hearts and distorted dreams, which resulted in four power-pop songs filled with hope, longing and pain. Guitarist Hannes Ek joined the band in October 2012.”

We enjoy the title song from the Dandan’s upcoming EP. “Satan.” has an increasing energy and interesting fluctuations in the vocals.

Friday, March 29, 2013

The common thread among the songs in this post is a heavy reliance upon female vocals. A song with vocals which accompany equally powerful instrumentation would not qualify. The vocals have to carry the song in the same manner that discussions about the Packers dominate conversations if you visit someone in Green Bay.

The first song is by WALL, which is the moniker of Lyla Foy, a London singer-songwriter. Particularly for the song “Left to Wonder,” it is difficult to remember a song with such simple instrumentation and vocals being able to emit the same level of emotion. As the song instructs, “Don’t go back ’til you’re ready to remember, there’s a crack and you’re leaving me left to wonder.”

“Left to Wonder” by WALL

Next is Dublin’s Slow Skies, which is the project of Karen Sheridan, but includes important contributions by Conal Herron and Patrick O’Laoghaire. The plan is to release the EP “Close” on May 4, 2013. The first song from the EP is “On the Shore.” At the beginning, the voice is almost child-like. Later, the string plucking is simple but effective, and the haunting background vocals set the song apart from similar attempts in the same genre.

“On the Shore.” by Slow Skies

The third song is a cover – something we have previously avoided in our blog posts. Siobhan Wilson is Scottish, but considers her hometown to be “Glasgow and Paris and also London sometimes.” As a gift for her sister’s wedding, Siobhan Wilson covered “The Good Years” of Karine Polwart and Edwin Morgan. It’s available as a Free, Legal and Recommended download.

“The Good Years” by Siobhan Wilson

Early today, we quickly posted a song by the Alin Coen Band. We did it quickly, because its availability as a free download may not last long. But it fits within the theme of this post, so it gets “double posted.”

“Kites” by Alin Coen Band – at least today, it's a Free, Legal and Recommended download.

We just discovered this song today, but it appears it will only be free until April 1. So, we are posting it quickly. The song is "Kites" by the Alin Coen Band. Alin Coen is a German songwriter. It's not easy to find information for us English-restricted people.

The four members of the band are from Weimar and Hamburg. They are Alin Coen (Vocals and Guitar), January Fresh (Guitar), Philip Martin (Bass), and Fabian Stevens (Drums).

"Kites" by the Alin Coen Band

The website of the band is http://www.alincoen.com/. This weekend we plan to learn more about the band. Certainly, there will be more songs to like.

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Recently, a band called The 1975 released “Chocolate.” We liked the song, but questioned each other as to why it sounded familiar. Then, we recognized the guitar sound as being uncannily close to one in a song by Bombay Bicycle Club. It may be a somewhat different riff, but the make of the guitar and any electronic processing has to be the same (at least by our ears). No complaint, the songs on the whole are very different and we enjoy the sound from the guitar.

The song that first brought attention to Bombay Bicycle Club was “Shuffle.” However, our favorite by the group is “Lights Out, Words Gone.” Bombay Bicycle Club is from London and includes Jack Steadman (lead vocals, guitar, piano), Jamie MacColl (guitar), Suren de Saram (drums) and Ed Nash (bass).

The 1975 is based in Manchester, which is a little over 200 miles from London. Maybe the two bands buy their instruments at the same store. The band members are Matthew Healy (vocals/guitar), Adam Hann (guitar), George Daniel (drums), and Ross MacDonald (bass).

So, it’s time for the comparison. The key is to use Soundcloud’s automatic shutdown of one stream upon start of a different stream. For “Chocolate” the guitar that is of interest begins 10 seconds into the song. For “Lights Out, Words Gone,” the closest match is at the 2:16 time mark. Even if you disagree with us, it’s time to get to know the offerings of the two groups.

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

We have sung the praises of To Kill a King, after a comparison of the band to HBO's Dexter (CLICK HERE). Without question, To Kill a King is one of the best groups we have chanced upon over the last twelve months. Separately, we have presented a song by Bastille (CLICK HERE). Well, the two groups have worked together on "Ralph's Balcony."

Ralph Pelleymounter is the lead man for To Kill a King. He has worked on a number of collaborations. The one that has led to some obsessiveness on our part is "Choices," which became available in December 2012. In addition to To Kill a King, it includes Emily Wood, Bastille, We Were Evergreen, The Title Sequence, Professor Penguin, Youth Imperial, Pete Bounford, Lydia Whittingham, and Amy Haynes. “Choices” begins with an acoustic guitar and Pelleymounter, then the guitar with Emily Wood, then the three together. It’s a good song for those two minutes. But it becomes blog-worthy as more instruments and voices enter. The song includes a string section and a horn section. The horns struggle at one point, but somehow that increases the attractiveness of the song.

On Bandcamp, the song is offered for free/”name your own price.” The Bandcamp offering is below the Youtube version. It’s worth a listen and much more.

Alternatively, including "Choices," there are 19 songs from “Ralph’s Balcony” that can be downloaded for FREE. While the additional 18 songs cannot compete with “Choices,” we like the songs that feature Emily Wood, as well as others. Triggering the download of the large file requires some patience, but this is one of those times when patience pays off.

Monday, March 25, 2013

To make it clear, we will be at Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View Ca. on May 19th in order to see Live 105 BFD 2013. We are not as enthusiastic as we had hoped, but the lineup is well worth the price of admission, the event is well run, and the format allows concert-goers to see a lot of music with very little downtime.

The Live 105 lineup was announced today. It is good, but the doesn’t have the “explosiveness” of its recent predecessors. We hope to be proven wrong, but there isn’t a band that will explode in 2013 to the same level as 2012 saw with fun., Of Monsters and Men, and Imagine Dragons (all in the 2012 BFD lineup) or 2011 saw with Foster the People. Instead, there are a number of bands having the potential to do in 2013 what Walk the Moon (another 2012 BFD performer) did in 2012. The “Walk the Moon equivalency” is something almost any Indie band would be happy to accept, and we are not complaining, but…

Comparing the 2013 lineup to the last two years:

Budlight Stages (side-by-side) – not as good as either 2011 or 2012.

Main Stage – Not as good as 2011, but better than 2012.

Local bands stage – Better than 2011 and 2012 (but it may be a function of our having a greater familiarity with the 2013 bands).

Sonic Tent – Better than 2011, and about equal to 2012.

Simply giving grades to the four opportunities:

Budlight Stages (side-by-side) – "B"

Main Stage – "B+"

Local bands stage – "A-"

Sonic Tent – We don’t feel confident here, but we’ll go with "B+"

So, here are some samples. As a "warning," this section will be updated over the next few days, so that we can be more thorough. Starting with the Main Stage performers.

"Closer to the Edge" by 30 seconds to Mars – they put on a strong show at the San Jose Event Center in 2011.

"Take a Walk" by Passion Pitt

"The Pit" by Silversun Pickups

"Lakehouse" By Of Monsters and Men (our favorite from the group)

"Kill Your Heroes" by AWOLNATION - A knowledgeable friend (Alan L.) asserts, "If the Foo Fighters were just starting out today, they would be called AWOLNATION."

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Next, the Budlight stages:
"Rockstar" by Jimmy Eat World (there were very limited options on Soundcloud)

"Trojans" by Atlas Genius - An Austrailian group that seems to be focusing on the U.S. market. We saw them at the Rickshaw Stop in 2012 and walked away pleased.

"We Come Running" by Youngblood Hawke

"Guns for Hands" by Twenty One Pilots. This is not my typical choice in music, But these two guys know how to put on a show - energetic and acrobatic.

"Sweater Weather" by The Neighbourhood

"Demon to Lean On" by Wavves. The band has been receiving a lot of positive attention. We admit to not appreciating them yet. Their songs are not demanding, either instrumentally or vocally.

"San Francisco" by The Mowgli's

"Harlem" by New Politics

"Dark Again" by Gold Fields

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Next, the Local Band Stage:Within the last twelve months, we have seen five of the bands scheduled for the Local Bands Stage. We saw all five at SLG Art Boutiki (affectionately known as “The Comic Book Store”) in San Jose, which is the best kept secret for live music in the Lower Peninsula. Below are our favorite songs from those five bands.

“New York” by Finish Ticket

“Circe” by Picture Atlantic

“Toxic Pocketbook” by Rin Tin Tiger

“Roll with the Times” by Tumbleweed
Wanderers

“The Breeze” by The Trims (the song is
not on Soundcloud - but we love this song!)

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Last night (March 23), we made our first visit to the Monarch in San Francisco. The opening band was Grayshot and the headliner was Citizen!

Reviewing the venue first, the Monarch definitely has its own personality, which we found appealing, and has a staff that is friendly and efficient. From the person checking IDs at the door to the people explaining we were in an area in which we didn’t belong, the staff carried a smile that certainly appeared genuine. Still, if you place even a small amount of importance on punctuality, carefully consider any decision to go to the Monarch. All of the information leading to last night’s show was consistent with the above banner, which indicates a 9:00 show time. When we arrived shortly before 9:00, the bands seemed nearly ready, but it was clear the venue had no intention of beginning the show on schedule. Grayshot started at 11:00.

The Monarch is a multi-functional venue. Upstairs, a wall with a large circular opening separates the bar area from a DJ/dance room. Downstairs has another bar, a DJ booth, floor space for approximately 100 people, and the stage for the bands. A nice touch to the downstairs area is a recessed area next to the stage, with ottomans that accommodate about 15 people. Importantly, the sound system is more than powerful enough for the room.

Grayshot is a Minnesota trio that includes two brothers (Aaron and Christian Anksum) and their friend (Reese Kling). Because the concert goers had been given a two-hour head start on alcohol consumption, there were some potentially disruptive (over friendly - not belligerent) individuals. But the band members were unaffected. There was some banter with the crowd, but it was all positive. The mixing was off at times. Still, Grayshot put on a good show. “Future Light” by Grayshot

Citizens! started their set with “Caroline.” It’s probably the best choice, because the repeated reference to “never made any sense” creates an easy familiarity that allows members of the crowd to get engaged from the very first song. I would have predicted that “True Romance” would end their setlist, but would have been wrong. The final two songs were “True Romance” and “(I’m in Love with Your) Girlfriend.” Our best recollection is that the setlist was:

1. “Caroline”

2. “Reptile”

3. “Let's Go All the Way”

4. “Love You More”

5. “Nobody's Fool”

6. “She Said”

7. “Idiots”

8. ‘Missing (a cover song from Everything but the Girl)”

9. “True Romance’

10. “(I'm in Love with Your) Girlfriend”

Citizens! is based in London. The five members are Tom Burke (vocals), Thom Rhoades (guitar and vocals), Martyn Richmond (bass), Lawrence Diamond (keyboards) and Mike Evans (drums and vocals).

Saturday, March 23, 2013

To quote the February 28, 2013 blog entry (CLICK HERE):"When you have IADD (Indie Attention Dis-obsessive Disorder), songs that are only a year old are sometimes considered “classics.” It is typical to discover a band, become so obsessive in listening to the songs of the newly discovered band that they are repeated using the loop mode, but then undeservedly leave the band behind as other bands are discovered. The five songs in the right-hand column are currently in that obsessive play condition. Below are songs from three bands which are still visited by us, but which no longer receive the amount of play they deserve. All of the songs are being offered without charge by the bands or their recording labels, making them Free, Legal and Recommended downloads (FLR downloads)."
The first song is by a band from Athens, Greece. The early releases of Zebra Tracks, such as "Silicone Valley" (that's correct, it's not silicon), were too "fluffy" for our tastes. But they changed that with songs like "Isabelle Creeps." The members of Zebra Tracks are Antonis Kavvadias. Zisis Zade, George Nikas, and Nikolas Smyrlakis. "Isabelle Creeps" by Zebra Tracks - It's a good song that gets great when the train-driving guitar kicks in at the 3:21 mark.

Next is a song that includes banjo and trumpet (Can it get better?) Dark Mean doesn't seem to be producing or touring any longer, but we can still appreciate what they gave us. The trio is from Hamilton, Onterio in currently still cold Canada. The members are Mark Dean, Sandy Johnston and Billy Holmes. "Happy Banjo" by Dark Mean

The third is from a Chicago band that is oddly named California Wives. The members are Joe O'Connor (Drums), Jayson Kramer (Vocals, Guitar, Keys), Dan Zima (Vocals, Guitar, Bass), and Graham Masell (Guitar, Vocals). "Purple" By California Wives

Friday, March 22, 2013

This month, a third collection of songs in a particular genre was released by the music magazine "Nothing But Hope and Passion" (NBHAP). This collection is a post-rock compilation.

The website for the magazine is http://nbhap.com/. It is a site well worth a periodic visit. They cover more than music, but the expertise is particularly apparent when the subject matter is music.

In August of 2012, NBHAP released " the twelve-song "Nothing But ...Synthgaze." In the following month, “Nothing But…Indie-Pop” became available in the form of a thirteen-song compilation. This month’s ‘Nothing But…Post-Rock” has fifteen songs. Each compilation is offered on a “name your own price” basis and is accompanied by the following text:

"Click "Buy Now" and enter "0" to get a free download. If you decide to pay for the sampler: we guarantee to not waste any Cent, each Cent will be used for the promotion of this sampler."

You will need to enter an email address, but if you don't have a music-dedicated email account by now, it's time to register one.

The three offerings are on Bandcamp. The Indie-Pop compilation can be sampled below or by visiting the Bandcamp site at CLICK HERE. We favor the songs by War Drugs, In Golden Tears, and Garda (tracks 6, 11 and 13).

<a href="http://nothingbuthopeandpassion.bandcamp.com/album/nothing-but-indie-pop">Nothing But ... Indie-Pop by Nothing But Hope And Passion</a>

The Post-Rock compilation can be sampled below or by visiting the Bandcamp site at CLICK HERE. We are partial to track 5 by Maserati.

The Synthgaze compilation can be sampled below or by visiting the Bandcamp site at CLICK HERE. We like the explanation of the genre:

"We'd like start with twelve tracks from the wide territory we might call SYNTHGAZE. Others tend to name it Chillwave, and some even glo-fi. We might not know the exact dividing line but we know the way it sounds and feels - a lot of synthesizers, even more reverb, soundwalls, old analog effects, loops and alienated - often pitched - vocal and sound samples."

<a href="http://nothingbuthopeandpassion.bandcamp.com/album/nothing-but-synthgaze">Nothing But ... Synthgaze by Nothing But Hope And Passion</a>

Thursday, March 21, 2013

In the last blog post, we gave our understanding of the band name "Humfree Bug Art." Today, we want to introduce Francis International Airport to Indie Obsessive. Not being gamers, we had to be told that the band name Francis International Airport is from Grand Theft Auto.

But it’s always the music that matters. In their 2011 album, “In the Woods,” Francis International Airport showed sophistication in blending guitars. The album was released in 2011. The songs “Monsters” and "Amnesiacs” received the attention, but we prefer “Bug” because of its many almost seamless transitions in energy.

Well, the band is preparing for the next album drop, which is scheduled for May 2013. The name of the album will be “Cache.” The first single is “The Right Ones,” and we like it. It starts with some technical guitar and very simple vocals. However, at the 1:25 mark, the rotation begins – focus on guitars, then keyboards (1:49), return to the starting vocals (2:03), but bring on the energy at 2:17. Would you call that a “whining guitar” sound that periodically haunts the song?

Francis International Airport is based in Vienna, Austria. The members of the band are Markus Zahradnicek, David Zahradnicek, Georg Tran, Christian Hölzel and Manuel Riegler. The website of the band is http://www.francisinternationalairport.com/.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Last year about this time, our favorite band name was Trampled by Turtles, a Minnesota folk/bluegrass group. This year, one of the leading candidates is Humfree Bug Art. Is the name representative of the splash pattern on the windshield of a tour vehicle, with the Humfree being the Swedish equivalent of the American Hummer? Probably not.

Wait! A trip to the “photographs” page of their website includes an array of pictures and posters, INCLUDING a small poster of a recognizable face. Actually, the poster has ten representations of the same face, Humphrey Bogart’s. It’s just one poster, but we’re going with that – Humfree Bug Art is named in honor of Humphrey Bogart.

But interest in a band’s name only holds a person’s focus for a while. The music has to sustain that interest. Humfree Bug Art delivers. As the best example:

“With Nights and Lights” by Humfree Bug Art

The band is from Stockholm, Sweden. The six members are Andreas Sandberg, Arvid Jonsson, Fredrik Forell, Daniel Westin, Sebastian Svensson Nylin, and Andreas Henningsson.

Here's a recent session that Humfree Bug Art recorded from the living room:

Monday, March 18, 2013

Our library of songs that fit in the genre of “banjo-infused country pseudo rap” is one song deep. Therefore, the song “Memphis” by Cam Penner is our favorite song within this genre. But we suspect that if this obscure genre were to blossom (fat chance), Penner’s song would maintain its top position.Cam Penner has led an interesting life. He is from Manitoba, Canada. At 18, he went to Chicago with some friends and did not return. Instead, he stayed at a commune, and helped the homeless by dishing “mystery soup” during the day. He also worked in detox shelters and women & children shelters. “Memphis” will be on his sixth album, which is scheduled to drop in April. Some of his early work reflects the less than pleasant environment which was his world early in life.

"Memphis" by Cam Penner - A Free, Legal and Recommnded download.

"Driftwood" by Cam Penner. Especially with the harmonica start, this song screams "Neil Young!" But it also rests on the skills of Penner.

"To Build a Fire" is another song that will be on the April album. Currently, it is available as a free download.

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Sometimes you stand at a concert performance and think, "It's very possible that someday people will be skeptical that I was among the people who attended this small performance." The thought occurs when you watch someone who you recognize as having the potential to "explode" in the near future.
We had that thought at the Rickshaw Stop in San Francisco on January 31, 2013. The headliner was Urban Cone from Sweden. They were even better than expected. But Tom Odell was the performer with no visible ceiling as to where he could end up in the music world. Odell is a singer-songwriter from the U.K. His debut album is scheduled to drop in the U.K. on April 15th.
At the Rickshaw Stop, Odell was supported by three talented musicians. But he was the show. After the first song (We think it was "Grow Old with Me"), he stopped and explained that the D note of the piano had died. For those close enough, it was apparent the piano key was at half mast relative to the other keys. Later, a second key went down. He plays with force, but without apology for his performance (although he did apologize to Yamaha as if it were a Deity).

On Wednesday May 8, 2013, Tom Odell returns to San Francisco. He will be at the Cafe Du Nord.Before the SF stop, he will be in Los Angeles and afterward in Seattle and Portland. We will attend the SF performance, since we have tickets already purchased. If you are within driving distance of one of the performances, it's time to buy a ticket too.

The song that brought attention to Tom Odell is "Another Love." It is easy to find the song on SoundCloud and elsewhere. It is more difficult to find streams of other songs. But below is a sampling of his music. Unfortunately, this doesn't fairly represent the energy of his live performances.
"Another Love"

Saturday, March 16, 2013

The music portion of SXSW provides bands with an opportunity to get their names in front of people who can make a difference. Bands looking for a break will play as often as possible from any stage available, or from the back of a pickup truck. But prior to arriving in Austin, it is important to maximize the changes that one of the difference-makers will make a point of attending one of your performances. So, bands will distribute songs to the media with the understanding that further distribution will occur.
To our benefit, the result is that we are offered libraries of music, without charge. This post about three offers. One is from National Public Radio (NPR), while the other two offers are from music magazines - Spin and Paste. NPR's collection of 100 songs strong. Spin has a download of 60 songs and Paste offers 30 songs. There is some duplication, but there must be at least 175 different songs.

We have already listed the NPR songs in the March 5 blog entry, which may be accessed by CLICKING HERE FOR THE MARCH 5 POST. Therefore, we will just post some of the songs that we found particularly attractive. By going to the NPR site, you can download individual songs or the entire 100-song collection. The NPR site is - CLICK FOR NPR. The songs we recommend are:
America's Son" by Air Review

"Born To" by Jesca Hoop

"Nomads" by Joe Banfi

"Matter of Time" by Fierce Bad Rabbit (sorry, no SoundCloud)
<a href="http://fiercebadrabbit.bandcamp.com/track/matter-of-time">Matter Of Time by Fierce Bad Rabbit</a>
"Running for Cover" by Ivan & Alyosha

"Dirty Summer" by Mother Falcon - This is a 17-member band. Obviously, they love music, because it's difficult to make a living when income is divided among 17 people.

"The Match" by The Eastern Sea

"You're an Animal" by Jonathan Boulet

"Ode to Mom" by Hannah Georgas

"What's Your Name" by No

"Shake, Shake Shake" by Bronze Radio Return - Our early prediction is that 2013 will go down as the year in which clapping reached its peak in popularity.

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The Spin Magazine's SXSW collection of 60 songs contains more hip-hop than the NPR accumulation. But there is something for everyone. To listen to the individual songs and to download "Spin Austin Power," go to Spin Magazine Site. The 60 songs on the mixtape are: